Kalliope 》Bradley Bradshaw

Epilogue

5 Years Later

Cecelia was sitting in the living room of the Bradshaw household, a Disney movie on in the background. Her and Bradley had gotten married a little over a year after the mission. Planning had taken longer than they had expected, especially with a surprise but very welcome addition to their lives.

Nicole "Nikki" Bradshaw had been quite the surprise to learn about. Bradley swears to this day Maverick almost fainted the day they had told him. (Amelia fully backs him up on it too.) Although Phoenix may take the cake for her overall reaction to the news. Hangman still maintains that he lost some hearing in his right ear after from the screech she let out finding out.

Nikki was born almost ten months after the mission and quickly became the apple of her parents' eyes. The little girl was four now and the spitting image of her father, something he was very proud of. Bradley was the ultimate girl dad. She was his little girl, his princess. All she had to do was put on the big eyes and he melted. It was something Hangman never let him live down. He was quickly shut down when Cecelia reminded him that he couldn't tell her no either.

The family of three couldn't have been happier. With Bradley home for a while due to the mission success and Cece pregnant, they got a lot done and ready long before Nikki made her entrance into the world. And while the girl might be the spitting image of her father, she was showing quite the entertaining personality. Neither Bradley nor Cecelia would force her into anything she didn't want to, but right now it was a toss up if she would take either of her parent's careers.

But something has to throw a wrench in their plans. Their son, Lucas 'Luke' Bradshaw , named after Cecelia's grandfather, was born about two years after Nikki. With Cecelia being almost five years apart from Ronen and Bradley not having any siblings, it was definitely a challenge dealing with two kids under the age of two.

Both of their families and all of their friends were there for any help they might have needed. It was a sight to behold whenever there was a gathering, seeing all of these top notch Top Gun pilots turning to literal mush around these kids. It was a spectacle to behold, especially for younger pilots who looked up to them. Not surprisingly Phoenix was the overwhelming favorite of the two, as well as Bob. The pilot and wso were one hell of a team in the air and while babysitting. But the surprising one was Hangman. Nikki loved him, much to Bradley's dismay.

And when Bradley was away on a mission or deployed, the offers stood even more. Maverick and Penny were there the most, being the unofficial grandparents on Bradley's side. But even they had difficulty at times, primarily because the Bradshaws were headquartered in New York. Cece was still doing shows, while not as frequent, but she needed to stay around the area. Not to mention, her parents still lived there, so the kids had their other grandparents to hang out with. Let me just say, Sophie and Riccardo took to being grandparents a little too well. These kids were spoiled so much, they wanted for absolutely nothing.

Now, with her daughter tucked into her side and her son sitting on the floor in front of her, Cecelia reminisces about the past few months. It had been hard, with Bradley being deployed for the past six months. But they had talked before this last one and he had said he was ready to take a step back. After the mission, Rooster had been promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and just recently had made the jump to Commander.

He would still be active in the Navy and on reserve for any special mission they may need him for, but he wanted to stay as grounded as possible to be with his kids and wife. The family was ecstatic about that. Luke was too young to fully comprehend what was happening, and while Nikki didn't get all of it, she still knew that her daddy wasn't home.

But luckily for her, he was coming home the next day. She didn't know that, however, as Cecelia and Bradley had decided to keep it a surprise. So a few bedtime stories later, and both kids were down for the night, letting Cecelia bask in quiet for a little while before heading to bed herself.